See You In Four
by ThatRunningGuy
Summary: In an attempt to get away from his hometown and past relationships, Zack spends a summer in the city of Midgar with his uncle. Along the way, he finds out a lot about friendship, family, life, and love. Primarily Zerith and CloTi.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello guys! This is my first story, and writing it mainly as a way to deal with getting out of a long-term relationship with my ex-girlfriend. It's kind of . . . cathartic, I guess. Anyway, this story is completely fictional (don't worry, I'm not angsting about my own life here, this is all made up), and my break-up merely gave me the idea for this :D**

**This first chapter is fairly short since it's only the prologue, but chapters will be longer after this, promise.**

**If you feel so inclined, please review, anything's great, be it praise or criticism. I would like to grow as an author, so if you have any advice, please let me know!**

**I do not own Final Fantasy VII.**

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I've never been nervous before. Well, okay, I've been nervous, but never _nervous_. At least, not like this. In my current state, I was hyper-aware of everything around me. My palms were sweaty, and my fingers kept shaking back and forth, I couldn't stand still. My sweatshirt was oddly heavy and I felt hot, even though it was sixty degrees out with a good breeze going, that I felt press against my face and push my bangs out of my eyes. I could feel my feet pressing against the ground, the denim of my jeans against my knees, and my dried out mouth.

"Zack?" a voice called out to me, drawing me away from my hyper-aware state. My eyes shot up from the ground, and my voice caught in my throat. There she was. My girlfriend – well, ex-girlfriend. Huh, that title would take some getting used to. Her arms were crossed and her hip was sticking out. I could tell she didn't want to be here. She was wearing a tank-top and pajama shorts – probably studying for our midterms that were coming up next week.

The breeze picked up for a second, and I saw her shiver. I began to instinctively unzip my sweatshirt, ready to pull it off and offer it to her. She shook her head at me. "I'm fine. What do you need?"

Blunt and to the point. Excellent. I took a step backwards and sat down on the bench that was behind me. She began tapping her foot, waiting for me to start talking. I ran a hand through my unkempt black hair, trying to find the right words to articulate my thoughts.

I clasped my hands together and rested my chin on them, looking up at her. "You know the feeling, when you want something so bad, that you'd do anything for it?" I asked, biting my lip while I waited for a response.

She nodded. "Yes, I do." It was killing me how formal she was being, but what else could I expect? She was the one who ended it, and this was my final shot, my . . . Hail-Mary, if you will.

"You're that feeling. Look, you told me to take a week off and get my feelings together. And I did. A lot of things changed. Hell, half of my outlook on life changed. But one thing stayed constant. That was you. You're the thing that I'd do anything for." She started shaking her head slowly, looking away. "Cissnei, I know you think I'm not in the right mindset right now, but I am. Trust me, I've never been more sure of anything in my life."

I rubbed my face with my hands before continuing. "I still love you. I know our relationship was rough for the past month, but you know I've been dealing with shit in my life, and I know you've been busy with school and your family too. But this is a two-year long relationship, and I'm not just willing to throw it away because of a rough patch."

She sighed. "The rough patch has been going on for more than a month, Zack."

Well, that was unexpected. "What?"

"Zack, we haven't been the same since winter. I've tried to drop you hints -"

"Hints?" I interrupted. "What is it with you and _hints_? Why couldn't you just flat out tell me something was wrong so we could work on it?" My voice rose slightly, and I clenched my fist to keep myself under control, taking a deep breath to calm down so I didn't say something I'd regret.

"I told you if things didn't change that something would happen."

"You didn't tell me _what_ to change though." I shook my head, my black hair falling in front of my eyes again. "What about the dreams you had? The ones where we got married? Did those just never happen?"

There was a pregnant pause as Cissnei looked down, obviously uncomfortable with what I said. Eventually, after what felt like eternity, she looked up and into my eyes, and I saw something in them . . . was it wistfulness? Regret? I wasn't sure, all I knew was that it was pain of some sort.

"Dreams change, Zack. I'm not the girl for you, Zack, and I don't think I ever was."

That hit me like a tidal wave, and I just looked down at my hands, noticing the wrinkles of my palms and the callouses of my fingers. I started nodding quickly, affirming what she had said. I felt numb. That was it. We were done. Two years of love, down the drain, a waste. I had nothing to say.

"Zack, I'm sorry for being so harsh, but –"

I held a hand up to silence her, interrupting again. "No, it's fine. Good, actually. I needed to hear that. Well, sorry for making a jackass out of myself. I guess that's that, then. We're done, the two of us." She nodded sadly. I think she was pitying me.

I stood up and started to walk away from her, ready to get away and do God knows what, just something, _anything_ to feel something. Numb was an odd feeling, one that I wasn't used to, and didn't care to _get _used to.

"Wait, Zack!" I paused for a second, tilting my head in her direct to let her know I was listening. "I still love you as a person . . . just, not romantically. If you ever need anything, you can talk to me. You're still my best friend."

I let a short, harsh, bark of a laugh that didn't even sound like a laugh. It sounded cold and heartless, even to my ears. "That's a good one."

I wasn't sure how long she stood out there after that. I never looked back. I just started walking. I wasn't sure where, and I didn't really care. I just wanted to get away at that point.

At the time, I felt like an idiot. A jackass. A tool. I had laid my heart out on the line for her, and I got rejected, hard. It was the stupidest thing I had ever done – never before had I been that vulnerable to someone.

Looking back though, it was the _smartest _thing I could have possibly done. If I hadn't done that – put myself out there, I would have gone through the summer regretting not telling how I felt, regretting that I hadn't tried getting her back, wondering what could have been if I had just told her that I didn't want to give up on the relationship. But now, I realized that telling her got a weight off my shoulders, let me know that I _needed _to move on and not dwell on her.

She was right all along though. She wasn't the girl for me. I didn't know that at the time though, and I didn't realize it until later on that summer, when I met Aerith.

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**Thoughts? Comments? Concerns?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's chapter 2 - sorry for the long delay, I've been settling into college! Now that I'm here though and classes have started up, updates should (hopefully) become more frequent!**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed, I'd respond to each personally, but since they are all just overwhelmingly positive, I would just like to thank you all! If you guys do have a question about the story though, or any criticism, or whatever, please, let me know, and I will reply to either give you an answer, or just learn how to be a better writer!**

**Without further adieu, here's Chapter 2!**

**...**

I think I was worrying Kunsel. I hadn't left our dorm room in a week now. I've skipped classes, even chemistry lab, and only ate what was in the mini-fridge, if I had even eaten – I had probably lost a good ten pounds by now. Kunsel asked me how I was doing multiple times daily, and every time I responded the exact same way, including now.

"How are you feeling?" he asked as he strolled in from his final class of the week, dropping his bag on the ground and running a hand down his face, trying to wake himself up for this evening.

"Guhhhh," I replied, rolling over in bed, shutting my eyes tightly and shoving a pillow over my face.

"Come on, Zack, get up. We're going out tonight. Big party going down for the end of the year."

"I don't wanna," I pouted. At least I was sitting up now, though only barely. I leaned over my bed to look down at the floor to see Kunsel's dark brown eyes staring up at me.

"Come on buddy, you know how they say – there's plenty of other fish in the sea, it's –"

"No," I said, staring him down.

Kunsel froze for a sec, trying to process what I said. "Um, yeah, Zack, people say that."

"Well, they're _lying_," I shot back before rolling back over onto my back, turning away from my friend.

I heard Kunsel let out an exasperated sigh. "Dammit, Zack, you're going out tonight. That's _final_."

I rolled off my bed and fell towards the floor, making Kunsel jump out of the way. I managed to land on my feet, though somewhat awkwardly, and I grabbed a dirty shirt from my desk chair and pulled it over my head. "Fine. But I'm wearing this.," I gestured to my dirty shirt and pajama pants.

Kunsel turned away to unpack his books on his desk. His desk was meticulously organized, with every paper and pencil put away in a specific order. I let my eyes wander from his to mine, and noticed the contrast for the hundredth time. Even on a good day (and this was _not _a good day), my desk was much messier than his, but at this point in time it just looked like I scattered stuff across the desk and then left it to rot, which I kind of had done. After Cissnei broke up with me, I made sure to take anything that she gave me (including her pictures) and toss it in the trash. And then I just haven't touched it since then.

"At least put on jeans. For me," Kunsel said as he grabbed a sweatshirt to throw on. I guess it was chilly out. That's one benefit of staying inside for a week; no dealing with shitty weather.

"Fine," I said again as I began to pull off my pants. "for you."

"But really," Kunsel shot back as he pulled on his hoodie, "for you." I grumbled an unintelligible response back as I got dressed. He was right, he was doing this for me, and I knew I'd end up thanking him in the long run, but for now he was high on my list of "People I Dislike" for making me get out of bed when all I wanted to was sleep the day, and my life, away.

….

The party was at some fraternity (I wasn't sure which, I just followed Kunsel down one of the roads that led away from campus), and it was hopping. The front lawn was crowded with people holding red plastic cups. Beer cans littered the lawn already, and food lay strewn about, bites taken out before being tossed away carelessly. There were people sitting, standing, laughing, yelling, all having a good time. A big picnic table was set up on the porch of the house, and people were already playing beer pong. I checked the clock on my phone. It read 7:46. Little early to be getting smashed, no? I shouldn't be judging though, I had (and still have) no idea how you're supposed to act a party; I was completely out of my element here, and it showed. Kunsel nudged me and muttered, "Dude, you're standing there with your mouth hanging open, get your shit together."

I jerked up at his contact and nodded quickly, apologizing under my breath. This was a bad idea. While I have no problem talking to people I don't know – hell, I've been called charismatic on more than one occasion – but I didn't drink. And that seemed to be the primary activity of the night.

"I'm gonna go grab myself a beer, you want anything?" Kunsel asked me as we entered the house. It was just as crowded and messy as the outside. I shook my head, and he shrugged, giving me a reassuring grin before wandering off.

As soon as Kunsel was swallowed up by the sea of party goers, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked for the source, and locked eyes with a short burgundy-haired girl, who looked up at me with energetic eyes. "You're cute," she said, skipping right to the point.

There was alcohol on her breath, I could smell it. She was clearly drunk, and that was probably why she was so straightforward about my apparent attractiveness. I scratched the back of my head awkwardly as I spoke. "Uh, thanks . . ."

"Jessie," she said quickly, standing on her toes to get her face closer to mine. "Yours?"

"Zack," I replied, taking a step back to create some distance between us. She took another step forward in response to me, and then grabbed my hand to prevent me from moving.

"Let's dance."

I was too out of it to really decline, and Jessie _was _kind of cute, so I guess it wasn't going to be an awful experience if I decided to dance with this girl.

As I followed her into the pit of people who were currently sliding up against each other, my phone began to ring. I slid it out of my pocket and checked the caller ID – Sebastian, a friend from high school.

"Hold on," I said to Jessie. "It's a friend, I gotta take this." Jessie just nodded at me, twirling a strand of slightly frazzled hair in her fingers. She really was cute, the more I looked at her.

I wove in and out of people as I lifted the phone to my ear, "Hey man, gimme a sec. At a party, really loud, gonna head outside." Luckily people didn't get in my way too much, and before I knew it I was outside again, where it was still loud, but not _as _loud. I was finally getting to the point where I decided I didn't care for this type of music.

"What's up?" I asked.

"You doing okay?" Sebastian just about blurted out.

I groaned, running my unoccupied left hand over my face and down my jaw. "I mean, I haven't been eating all week, and have skipped class, but Kunsel finally got me off my ass and to a party, so there's that, I guess."

"Trying to get out and meet some chicks after Cissnei started dating again?"

The music suddenly stopped, at least me in ears. People froze. I was suddenly in a different plane of existence where nothing was moving except for me, my chest moving up and down as I started to breath faster and faster.

" . . . she's what?" I asked slowly, enunciating my words and drawing them out to an impossibly long length in order to draw out the time before I got an answer.

"Shit. Shit, shit, shit. Fuck. Zack, I'm sorry, I didn't know." Sebastian trailed off, suddenly freaking out on his own over breaking this news to me.

"Who?"

"Nevermind, Zack, just forget I said any –"

"Who!" I asked again, this time raising my voice.

". . . Tseng," Sebastian said quietly. "Look, Zack, I'm really sorry, is there anything I can –"

I interrupted him again, "No, you're fine. I had to find out anyway, eventually, right? Just . . . wow. I'm gonna go, Sebastian. Thanks." I hung up before he could say anything else.

Really? A _week _after we broke, up a fucking _week_ she starts dating again? And not just any guy, the guy who had relentlessly flirted with her throughout our entire relationship, the guy who was "just a good friend."

Good friend my ass. I couldn't believe it. I felt like such a jackass. I had trusted her, let the two of them hang out, actually thought that they were _just _friends. I was such an idiot.

The next thing I did, I regret, one-hundred percent. I shouldn't have done it. It was an asshole move, and I never would have done it under any other circumstances, but I was feeling like _shit, _and I just wanted to get my mind off everything, and just do _something_.

So I headed back inside the frat house, and found Jessie.

….

I woke with a groggy start, unsure of my surroundings. They were unfamiliar, to say the least. How much did I drink at that party? I was pretty sure I didn't drink _anything_, actually, because I don't drink alcohol, at all, but then why . . .? That was when realization dawned on me, and it hit me. Oh _shit_.

I sat up in the bed I was in, now wide awake, and looked over at the figure that was slowly moving up and down in a rhythmic pattern. Jessie. Well, she was still asleep, good. I told you what I did was an asshole move, and it was. I slowly started to crawl out of bed, careful not to wake her, but I guess I just wasn't graceful enough, or maybe these stupid beds in the dorm rooms were just too damn tiny. Regardless of the reason, Jessie started to come too.

She yawned deeply, stretching her arms high above her head. I averted my gaze, not wanting to see if she was unclothed or not. See, I had least had _some _decency, even though I had just slept with her. "Mmmm, you were good," she moaned out, still blinking away the effects of sleep.

"Thanks," I said awkwardly. How do you reply to a statement like that anyway? Sheesh, if only my friends could see me now. Zack Fair, the "womanizer," who can't take a compliment about how good he is in bed. I rubbed the back of my head as she stared at me expectantly. "You, uh, were pretty good yourself." And yeah, I had enjoyed myself. It was a good distraction from the . . . news of last night, but now, now I was just feeling even worse than I had yesterday after my call with Sebastian. "Sorry, but I gotta go. Classes, and everything."

Thankfully Jessie was still half asleep, and she didn't point out that yesterday was Friday, and that today was a weekend. She leaned back into her bed and rolled over. I pulled on my pants and shirt quickly and took a few quick strides to the door – like I said, tiny dorm rooms, college life, fun. As I opened the door she propped herself up onto her elbows and scrutinized me one last time.

"You'll call me, right?" she asked.

"Of course," I said before closing the door.

I never spoke to her again.

…

The rest of the school year passed pretty uneventfully, since there were only two weeks left 'till it was over. My grades were more disappointing than they should have been, but that's what love does to you, no? I was lucky I even made it to my exams. If I had it my way I would have been sitting in my dorm room still moping around.

Two days after getting home for the summer I found myself on a train to Midgar. Cissnei lived in the same town as me (high school sweethearts and all that jazz, too bad there wasn't a fairy tale ending to go along with the beginning), and I just couldn't bear to see her again, especially since she was dating Tseng. Our town was small, less than a hundred people total. We were out in Gongaga, and in case you haven't heard the name, just know that it was the boonies. A mako reactor was there and . . . not much else.

So, I talked to my Uncle Angeal, and I was now on my way to going to stay with him and his daughter Marlene this summer. He had snagged me a prestigious internship at the Shinra Corporation legal department (don't ask me how, like I said, my grades were nothing impressive), and that was supposed to keep me busy this summer.

To be honest, it didn't take up that much time. Just a couple of hours Monday through Friday – afternoons and weekends I had to myself. This turned out to be fantastic, because as soon as I stepped off the crowded train and onto the even more crowded train platform, I saw my uncle, my cousin, and my childhood friend who I knew right then and there would help me stay as busy as possible this summer.

I hadn't seen Tifa Lockheart since I was eight years old, and the first thing I noticed was how . . . grown up she was (to stay politically correct). She had grown up nicely, too. She had long chocolate brown hair that fell to the small of her back, beautiful wine colored eyes, porcelain skin, and, well, curves. _Nice _ones. In short, she was gorgeous.

She. Was. Gorgeous. I couldn't believe I had just thought that. That was something I hadn't thought since Cissnei and I broke up. Sure, I had found girls attractive and cute (yes, I know, Jessie, don't remind me), but finding a girl _gorgeous_ was a first.

This was good. Five minutes in Midgar, and I already started making progress moving on with my life. As I gave my uncle a quick hug before picking up Marlene, I flashed Tifa a smile, the first real smile I think I've smiled since becoming single. Summer was going to be good.

...

**Thank you for reading! Reviews are appreciated!**


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